Central Province
Edevu, Brown River
(first week)

On our fifth day at Edevu David was due to resupply us and he was bringing Christine Wright, the Co-Director of AVRU. She was in Port Moresby in a whistle-stop visit to remove all the labels from the antivenoms and replace them with code-numbers so that the antivenom trial, comparing our new Costa Rican Monospecific Taipan Antivenom with the existing CSL antivenom, could begin.

With one day free before her flight back to Australia, Dave thought she might enjoy a visit to our field station. Owen had gone into Port Moresby two days previously and he was coming back with Dave.

On the Edevu road Dave and Owen caught a Papuan taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus canni), so Christine saw her first wild Papuan taipan actually being captured for the programme she had come up to support and the antivenom trial she was initiating.

Dave and Owen catching the Papuan taipan, Oxyuranus scutelltus canni Photos: Christine Wright

Christine meeting Kevin and his family

Dave also brought out a snake from the Snek Haus for release, a New Guinea ground boa (Candoia aspera schmidti) which had been brought in by Edevu villagers as a suspected death adder.

New Guinea ground boa Candoia aspera schmidti

A few days later Dave came out again and brought out Julius who would replace me while I went back into Port Moresby for a couple of days. I would be taking back another Papuan taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus canni) captured by Jasper that morning on Phone Booth Hill* opposite the campsite. Jasper and Ben also remained at Edevu.

Papuan taipan, Oxyuranus scutelltus canni

* Phone Booth Hill is so named as it is the best place for mobile phone reception.